Commodity handling systems such as grain elevator systems for conveying commodities from one location to another are old in the art. Frequently, commodity or grain blending is performed wherein different types of grains from a plurality of grain bins are conveyed to a common destination to create a blend or mixture of commodities. For example, a blend of 30% corn, 50% wheat, and 20% oats might be required at a certain destination such as a train car. Currently, whenever grain blending is performed, the discharge gates of the various grain bins are opened based on the percentage of the gate opening and not as a percentage of the total flow rate, or blend.
Unfortunately, the percentage of gate opening is frequently not the same as the percentage of blend, as many factors affect the flow of grains through a gate. The same sized gates set to the same percentage of openings will not necessarily provide the same rate of grain flow therethrough as the flow is subject to such factors as bin structure, gate structure, angle/size of the discharge spouting, etc. Therefore, blending of grains according to the percentage of gate openings frequently does not derive the required blending percentages.
Additionally, automated grain handling systems which allow grain blending based on a percentage of gate openings do not have manual backup support to enable manual control of the blending process in the event of computer failure.
Furthermore, the sensors utilized to monitor gate opening during the grain blending process are frequently inaccurate and not reliable.
The present invention solves these and many other problems associated with the prior art.